It meant not only did Davie have to rethink his strategy for the future of the BBC's digital radio stations, he was also sent further down the MediaGuardian 100.

Digital radio has been slow to catch on and a strong BBC offering will be vital if the industry is to achieve digital radio switchover by 2015, a date Davie has described as "very ambitious".

A former PepsiCo marketeer with no previous radio experience, Davie was a surprise choice to succeed Jenny Abramsky in the BBC's top radio job two years ago. It was the first time someone from a marketing background had been handed one of the corporation's key executive programming roles.

Davie failed to contain the "Sachsgate" scandal but was generally seen to have grown into his role, both at the BBC and as a cross-industry digital champion.

How Davie is perceived over the next 12 months will depend on his digital radio strategy in the light of the 6 Music U-turn. Another digital station, the Asian Network, will close after the trust declined to save it from the axe.